2017 NA LCS season

The 2017 NA LCS season was the fifth year of the North American League of Legends Championship Series (NA LCS), a professional esports league for the MOBA PC game League of Legends. It was divided into spring and summer splits, each consisting of a regular season and playoff stage, and also included a promotion tournament and a regional qualifiers for the World Championship.

2017 NA LCS season
League	NA LCS
Sport	League of Legends
Duration	January 20 – April 23 (Spring) June 2 – September 3 (Summer) September 8–10 (Regional finals)
Number of teams	10
TV partner(s)	Twitch, YouTube
Spring
Champions	Team SoloMid
Runners-up	Cloud9
Top seed	Team SoloMid
Season MVP	Noh "Arrow" Dong-hyeon[1] (Phoenix1)
Summer
Champions	Team SoloMid
Runners-up	Immortals
Top seed	Team SoloMid
Season MVP	Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg[1][2] (Team SoloMid)
Regional finals
Winner	Cloud9

To qualify for the World Championship, a team must either be the summer champions, have the most championship points, or win the regional qualifier.[3] The three teams that qualified for the 2017 World Championship in these ways were Team SoloMid, Immortals and Cloud9, respectively.

Summer

Regular season

Format

The format of the 2017 regular summer season gave every team the opportunity to play a best of three for every match. The first team to win two out of the three games wins the match. Teams played on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Every Friday there were two matches played. Every Saturday and Sunday there were four matches played. The rest of the week was used for practice. In between week 5 and 6, NA LCS took a break to participate in Rift Rivals. Rift Rivals was a competitive tournament for boasting rights between different regions. NA LCS played against the European League of Legends Championship Series (EU LCS). In this tournament, NA sent Team SoloMid (TSM), Cloud9 (C9), and Phoenix1 (P1) to represent the region. The 2017 regular summer season started on Friday, June 2, 2017 featuring C9 vs Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) and Immortals (IMT) vs P1.[4] The final day of the 2017 regular summer season was Sunday, August 6, 2017 featuring C9 vs Echo Fox (FOX), Team Liquid (TL) vs Team Dignitas (DIG), TSM vs CLG, and FlyQuest (FLY) vs P1.[5] By the end of the 2017 regular summer season, there were nine weeks of competition and over 200 games played.

Logistics

• Patch 7.10.
• The matches were played at NA LCS Studio in either the Battle Arena or the Battle Theater.[6]
• On Friday there was only one live stream while on the weekend there were two live streams (NALCS1 & NALCS2).

Teams

Team SoloMid (TSM)
Top Laner- Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell
Jungle- Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen
Mid Laner- Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg
ADC- Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng
Support- Vincent “Biofrost” Wang
Sub ADC- Rasmus “MrRalleZ” Skinneholm
Coach- Parth “Parth” Naidu

[7]

Immortals (IMT)
Top Laner- Hojong “Flame” Lee
Jungle- Jake “Xmithie” Puchero
Mid Laner- Eugene “Pobelter” Park
ADC- Li “Cody Sun” Yu Sun
Support- Joosung “Olleh” Kim
Sub Jungle- Andy “Anda” Hoang
Coach- Sangsu “Ssong” Kim

[8]

Counter Logic Gaming (CLG)
Top Laner- Darshan “Darshan” Upadhyaya
Jungle- Omar “Omargod” Amin
Mid Laner- Jaehyun “Huhi” Choi
ADC- Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes
Support- Zaqueri “aphromoo” Black
Sub Top Laner- Kevin “Fallenbandit” Wu
Sub Mid Laner- Jean “Tuesday” Sebastien
Sub ADC- Osama “Zag” Alkhalaileh
Sub Support- Hyowon “Fill” Lee
Coach- Anthony “Zikzlol” Gray

[9]

Cloud9 (C9)
Top Laner- Eonyoung “Impact” Jeong
Jungle- Juan “Contractz” Garcia
Mid Laner- Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen
ADC- Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi
Support- Andy “Smoothie” Ta
Sub Top Laner- Jiwon “Ray” Jeon
Coach- Hangya “Reapered” Bok

[10]

Team Dignitas (DIG)
Top Laner- Chan-ho “Ssumday” Kim
Jungle- Byeong-hoon “Shrimp” Lee
Mid Laner- Lae-young “Keane” Jang
ADC- Johnny “Altec” Ru
Support- Adrian “Adrian” Ma
Sub ADC- Benjamin “LOD” deMunck
Sub Support- Terry “Big” Chuong
Coach- David “Cop” Roberson

[11]

Team Envy (NV)
Top Laner- Woo-Yeong “Seraph” Shin
Jungle- Taeyou “LirA” Nam
Mid Laner- Yasin “Nisqy” Dincer
ADC- Apollo “Apollo” Price
Support- Nickolas “Hakuho” Surgent
Sub ADC- Zach “Nientonsoh” Malhas
Sub Mid Laner- Alexey “Alex Ich” Ichetovkin
Coach- Dong Hwan “Violet” Kim

[12]

FlyQuest (FLY)
Top Laner- An “Balls” Le
Jungle- Galen “Moon” Holgate
Mid Laner- Hai “Hai” Lam
ADC- Jason “WildTurtle” Tran
Sub Mid Laner- Michael “bigfatIp” Tang
Sub Support- Maria “Remilia” Creveling
Coach- Thomas “ThinkCard” Slotkin

[13]

Echo Fox (FOX)
Top Laner- Brandon “Brandini” Chen
Jungle- Matthew “Akaadian” Higginbotham
Mid Laner- Henrik “Froggen” Hansen
ADC- Yuri “Keith” Jew
Support- Austin “Gate” Yu
Sub Top Laner- Hyeongseok “Looper” Jang
Sub ADC- Brandon “Mash” Phan
Sub Jungle- Jonathan “Grig” Armao
Sub Mid Laner- Tanner “Damonte” Damonte
Coach- Nick “Inero” Smith

[14]

Team Liquid (TL)
Top Laner- Samson “Lourlo” Jackson
Jungle- Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett
Mid Laner- Youngmin “Mickey” Son
ADC- Gwang-jin “Piglet” Chae
Support- Matt “Matt” Elento
Sub Mid Laner- Greyson “Goldenglue” Gilmer
Sub Jungle- Yeu-Jin “Reignover” Kim
Sub Jungle- Rami “Inori” Charagh
Sub Support- Koo “konkwon” Hyuk Kwon
Sub Mid Laner- David “Insanity” Challe
Coach- Nu-ri “Cain” Jang

[15]

Phoenix1 (P1)
Top Laner- Derek “Zig” Shao
Jungle- Mike “MikeYeung” Yeung
Mid Laner- Sang “Ryu” Wook Yoo
ADC- Dong-hyeon “Arrow” Noh
Support- Alex “Xpecial” Chu
Sub Jungle- William “Meteos” Hartman
Sub Mid Laner- Marcin “Selfie” Wolski
Sub Mid Laner- Jun-sik “Pirean” Choi
Sub Top Laner- Jon “Allorim” Logue
Sub Jungle- Raymond “Wiggily” Griffin
Sub Support- Jordan “Shady” Robison
Coach- Sang-Chul “Fly” Kim

Results

1. Team SoloMid 14W-4L
2. Immortals 14W-4L
3. Counter Logic Gaming 12W-6L
4. Cloud9 12W-6L
5. Team Dignitas 11W-7L
6. Team Envy 8W-10L
7. FlyQuest 6W-12L
8. Echo Fox 5W-13L
9. Team Liquid 4W-14L
10. Phoenix1 4W-14L[16]

Playoffs

Format

The top six teams of the regular season got to play in the Summer Playoffs. The Summer Playoffs consists of three rounds: Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals. The top two teams automatically qualify for Semifinals while the four other teams played in the Quarterfinals. The winners of the Quarterfinals move onto the Semifinals. With the use of dynamic seeding, the highest seed team, regular season, played against the lowest seed team that moved onto the Semifinals. The second highest seed team, regular season, played against the other team. The two winners of the Semifinals played for first place in the Finals while the two losers played for third place.[17]

Logistics

• Patch 7.16
• Quarterfinals and Semifinals played in the Battle Arena while the Finals played at the TD Garden in Boston, MA.
• All matches are best of five.[18][19][20][21]

Teams

• Team SoloMid
• Immortals
• Counter Logic Gaming
• Cloud9
• Team Dignitas
• Team Envy

Results

Quarterfinals

• Team Dignitas vs. Cloud9

Team Dignitas Victory 3W-1L

• Counter Logic Gaming vs. Team Envy

Counter Logic Gaming Victory 3W-2L

Semifinals

• Counter Logic Gaming vs. Immortals

Immortals Victory 3W-0L

• Team SoloMid vs. Team Dignitas

Team SoloMid Victory 3W-1L

Third place

• Team Dignitas vs. Counter Logic Gaming

Counter Logic Gaming Victory 3W-0L

Finals

• Team SoloMid vs. Immortals

Team SoloMid Victory 3W-1L[22]

Promotion tournament

Format

The promotion tournament for the 2018 spring split was played between the bottom two NA LCS teams and the top two CS teams from the 2017 summer split. This tournament was a three-day event. On the first day, a NA LCS team vs a CS team. The winners from day one go onto the winners bracket, day two, where they play against each other to determine who will get to play in the NA LCS next split. The losers from day one go onto the losers bracket, day two, where they play against each other to determine who will get a final chance to qualify for the NA LCS next split. On day three, the winner of the losers bracket plays against the loser of the winners bracket. The winner of day three will play in the NA LCS next split. This was the last promotion tournament of the NA LCS. Next split the NA LCS will be franchising teams.[23]

Logistics

• Patch 7.15
• Played in the Battle Theater and Battle Arena.

Teams

NA LCS teams

• Phoenix1
• Team Liquid

CS teams

Gold Coin United (GCU)
Top Laner- Colin “Solo” Earnest
Jungle- Lucas “Santorin” Larsen
Mid Laner- Yongjun “Fly” Song
ADC- Richard “Rikara” Oh
Support- Mingi “Madlife” Hong
Sub Mid Laner- Jaehoon “Fenix” Kim
Sub Mid Laner- Alec “BonQuish” Warren
Sub Support- Ryan “Whyin” Karaszkiewicz
Coach- Yoonsup “Locodoco” Choi

[24]

eUnited (EUN)
Top Laner- Eric “Licorice” Ritchie
Jungle- Ingyu “DanDy” Choi
Mid Laner- Chang-suk “GBM” Lee
ADC- Matthew “Deftly” Chen
Support- Tristan “Zeyzal” Stidam
Sub Support- John “Papa Chau” Le
Sub Mid Laner- Boyuan “bobqinXD” Qin
Sub Jungle- Nicholas “PotLuck” Pollock
Coach- Tadayoshi "Hermit" Littleton

[25]

Results

Day 1

• Phoenix1 (P1) vs. Gold Coin United (GCU)

Phoenix1 (P1) Victory 3W-2L

• Team Liquid (TL) vs. eUnited (EUN)

Team Liquid (TL) Victory 3W-0L

Day 2

• eUnited (EUN) vs. Gold Coin United (GCU)

eUnited (EUN) Victory 3W-0L

• Team Liquid (TL) vs. Phoenix1 (P1)

Team Liquid (TL) 3W-2L

Day 3

• Phoenix1 (P1) vs. eUnited (EUN)

Phoenix1 (P1) Victory 3W-0L[26]

Team Liquid and Phoenix1 both won the promotion tournament, but they are not guaranteed a seat next split. The 2018 NA LCS Spring Split has implemented franchising so no team is guaranteed a spot.

Regional qualifiers

Format

The Regional Qualifiers is played between 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th highest point holders. There are three rounds. The first round was played between the 4th and 5th point holders. The second round was played between the winner of the first round and the 3rd point holder. The final round is played between the winner of the second round and the 2nd point holder. The winner of the last round will get the last seat to qualify for Worlds.[27]

Logistics

• Patch 7.16
• Played in the Battle Theater.
• All matches are best of five[28]

Teams

• FlyQuest
• Team Dignitas
• Counter Logic Gaming
• Cloud9

Results

Round 1

• FlyQuest vs. Team Dignitas

FlyQuest Victory 3W-0L

Round 2

• FlyQuest vs. Counter Logic Gaming

Counter Logic Gaming Victory 3W-1L

Finals

• Cloud9 vs. Counter Logic Gaming

Cloud9 Victory 3W-1L[29]

References

1. Volk, Pete (April 25, 2017). "NA LCS MVP: Updated winners list". The Rift Herald. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
2. Lee, Julia (September 2, 2017). "Bjergsen is awarded his fourth regular season MVP award". The Rift Herald. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
3. Staff, LoLEsports (August 2017). "How Do Teams Qualify for Worlds 2017?". League of Legends.
4. "Schedule". LoL Esports. 2017.
5. "Schedule". LoL Esports. 2017.
6. Schmiedicker, Bear (May 18, 2016). "How to get your NA LCS Summer Split tickets". LoL Esports.
7. "TSM". LoL Esports. 2017.
8. "Immortals". LoL Esports. 2017.
9. "Counter Logic Gaming". LoL Esports. 2017.
10. "Cloud9". LoL Esports. 2017.
11. "Team Dignitas". LoL Esports. 2017.
12. "Team Envy". LoL Esports. 2017.
13. "FlyQuest". LoL Esports. 2017.
14. "Echo Fox". LoL Esports. 2017.
15. "Team Liquid". LoL Esports. 2017.
16. "Teams & Standings". LoL Esports. 2017.
17. Staff, LoLEsports (August 15, 2017). "2017 NA LCS Summer Playoffs Primer". LoL Esports.
18. "DIG vs. C9 - Day 1 Game 1 | NA LCS Summer Split Quarterfinals | Team Dignitas vs. Cloud9 (2017)". YouTube. August 19, 2017.
19. "CLG vs. IMT - Day 1 Game 1 | NA LCS Summer Split Semifinals | CLG vs. Immortals (2017)". YouTube. August 26, 2017.
20. "DIG vs. CLG - | Third Place | NA LCS Summer Split Game 1 | Team Dignitas vs. CLG (2017)". YouTube. September 2, 2017.
21. "TSM vs. IMT - | Final | NA LCS Summer Split Game 1 | Team SoloMid vs. Immortals (2017)". YouTube. September 3, 2017.
22. "Teams & Standings". LoL Esports. 2017.
23. Staff, LoLEsports (August 9, 2017). "2018 Spring Promotion Tournament". LoL Esports.
24. "Gold Coin United". LoL Esports. 2017.
25. "eUnited". LoL Esports. 2017.
26. "Teams & Standings". LoL Esports. 2017.
27. Staff, LoLEsports (August 18, 2017). "How Do Teams Qualify for Worlds 2017?". LoL Esports.
28. "DIG vs. FLY | Regional Qualifier | NA LCS Summer Split Game 1 | Team Dignitas vs. FlyQuest (2017)". YouTube. September 8, 2017.
29. "Teams & Standings". LoL Esports. 2017.